This photo was taken at the Chicago airport. It was a long trip, but oh so worth it. We had to fly from Columbus to Chicago to LA to Melbourne. The flight from LA to Melbourne was rough, but it got us there. We all arrived safely and settled into our rooms at a very nice hotel. Although we did not sleep much on the plane, it helped us sleep well our first night, which was necessary considering we had lots of Melbourne exploring to do the next day!
Our first day was spent doing some sightseeing and becoming familiar with downtown Melbourne. This is Flinders Station – the main train station in Melbourne. The city is like a smaller version of NYC and has an elaborate transportation system including trains, trams, and buses. The people are extremely diverse, which was unexpected for us. There are a lot of Asians here, as evidenced by the plethora of Asian food options.
We have never seen so much graffiti in our lives as in Melbourne. It is ubiquitous and so beautiful that it is more accurately described as street art. This alley is one in which the authorities allow it, therefore it is vibrant and covers the entire thing. There was a youth center located in the middle of the alley, so we assumed that it serves as a creative outlet.
We were able to spend time at the Chinese Museum, which was free. It has some great historical art. We liked the colorful water wall on the front.
Even their malls are cool looking in Melbourne. The architecture in this city is like nothing we’ve ever seen. It’s an eclectic mix of old, new, classic, and funky.
Our first agency visit was to the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency. We learned a ton about aboriginal history, culture, and contemporary movements from the staff. It was eye-opening to hear their personal stories first hand. They were extremely generous and happened to be hilarious. The history of the treatment of indigenous peoples has many parallels with the plight of Native Americans and African Americans. Shockingly, the Australian government’s strategy was to literally “breed out” aboriginal people by removing them from their homes (the stolen generations) and mandating they live with white families, in hopes they would interbreed with white people to the point that successive generations would cease to exist. Their stories are tragic and their resilience inspiring.
Men playing the yidaki AKA digeridoo at VACCA.
The Royal Children’s Hospital is the second agency we visited and we were lucky enough to see them 2 different days. Robin, the social worker who facilitated our visit, was beyond nice and insightful. We all split up as they were generous enough to create individual schedules for us. We were able to sit in on an interdisciplinary meeting, which was so fascinating to hear the way a team worked together from different angles to serve their patients. The Australian public health system is much more robust than the U.S. and social workers are really valued at the hospital, which allows for much comparing and contrasting. We also got to have a Q&A session with the adolescent psychiatrist, which was fascinating. He said many conditions, such as eating disorders, he believes are caused by a disconnect between the way an adolescent thinks they should be perceived and how they perceive themselves. He also explained that their dietitian was out of the office, but that she is an instrumental part of the team. Curiously, the dietitian has no contact with families once they are discharged. This is very different from dietitians in America who work with eating disorder patients since they are an integral part in an out-patient setting in order to help the child restore eating patterns physically and mentally. Due to the family based theory approach utilized by the team at Royal Children’s hospital, most faculty interacts with the family and child in an in-patient setting. The dietitian will help restore the child’s lab levels to normal values during their stay at the hospital (the most important values to look at for eating disorders are potassium, calcium, and phosphorus) and make sure that the formula and rate for a feeding tube, if needed, is correct. It is very important to make sure that the re-introduction to food is not too aggressive in order to avoid re-feeding syndrome and possible death. Yet, the adolescent psychiatrist said that the incidence of this occurring to their patients was low so that was good to hear! We also got a tour of the hospital, which is one of the most amazing and thoughtful buildings we’ve ever come across. We got to learn from social workers as well and the aboriginal staff that exist to assist aboriginal patients and families. It was an amazing experience overall.
Royal Children’s Hospital
Meerkats for the kids! At the RCH